October 2024 Watch Auction Update – Podium Winners & Moon Astronauts

Last month I covered the IWC Schaffhausen Pilot’s Watch Chronograph Edition ‘Polaris Dawn’ wristwatches worn by the crew of the recent Polaris Dawn Mission. This month we are back in space again heading for the Moon with the sale of a space flight worn Rolex GMT-Master wristwatch formerly owned by NASA astronaut Edgar D. Mitchell, (1930 - 2016). The watch made US $2.1 million at auction. Keeping with the pilot theme, in this case racing car drivers, an IWC Schaffhausen Pilot’s watch worn by Sir Lewis Hamilton on the winner’s podium at this year’s Formula One™, Qatar Airways British Grand Prix™ has sold at a charity auction for CHF 220,000. This and more is covered in the report.

Formula One™ fans and watch enthusiasts alike had the opportunity to bid online and win an IWC Schaffhausen Pilot’s watch worn by Sir Lewis Hamilton. The watch was on Hamilton’s wrist as he collected the winner’s trophy on the podium of the 2024 Formula One™, Qatar Airways British Grand Prix™ held at the renowned Silverstone racetrack. The win marked Lewis Hamilton’s record-breaking ninth Silverstone victory for the seven times Formula One™ World Drivers’ Champion.

The Laureus x IWC Schaffhausen online sale in support of the Laureus Charity was conducted by Bonhams and designed to end on 19 October so as to coincide with the Laureus Charity Night event in Zurich. Along with the IWC Schaffhausen Pilot’s watch a framed pair of original Lewis Hamilton’s signed racing gloves worn during the Silverstone race and donated by Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One™ Team, were also included as part of the auction for the charity.

The watch and racing gloves were estimated at CHF30,000-100,000 but motored away to achieve CHF 220,000, (approximately £195,260), including buyer’s premium.

During the Laureus Charity night money is raised for the Laureus Foundation Switzerland. The foundation was formed in 2006 as a branch of the international foundation Laureus Sport for Good who use sport to enable children and adolescents to lead a positive and self-determined life.

Designated, Reference. IW38830, Lewis Hamilton’s auctioned timepiece is an IWC Schaffhausen Pilot’s Watch Performance Chronograph 41 Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One™ Team wristwatch. 

Watch spotters will no doubt be awaiting with interest to see which watch will be on the wrist of Sir Lewis Hamilton when he makes his first appearance in the famed ‘Rosso Corsa’ red racing suit of the Scuderia Ferrari HP Formula 1® Team in 2025. Both the Scuderia Ferrari HP Formula 1® Team and racing driver Charles Leclerc have partnerships with independent watch brand Richard Mille. Since 2013 Hamilton has been an IWC Schaffhausen brand ambassador.

Apart from seeing Lewis Hamilton in a Ferrari in 2025, another major change in Formula 1® next year is the newly announced partnership between Formula 1® and LVMH. Signed on 2 October in Paris LVMH will become a Global Partner from 2025 in a new 10-year agreement with Formula 1®. LVMH has noted that several of their iconic Maisons will be involved in the partnership, including Louis Vuitton, Moët Hennessy and TAG Heuer. Further details of the partnership will be announced in early 2025. For watch enthusiasts it will be of great interest to see what role TAG Heuer has in the new partnership given its legendary association with motor racing.

At the time of its launch in 1955, Rolex probably didn’t envisage that their GMT-Master wristwatch, used by Pan Am pilots, would go on space flights to the Moon. Of course, as we all know it was the Omega Speedmaster which NASA adopted as its official wristwatch for their Astronauts. Now one of these stunningly rare Rolex GMT-Master space flown watches has just been auctioned in America by RR Auction based in Boston. The watch made a superb US $2,163,199, (approximately £1,665,350), including buyer’s premium. The estimate was US $400,000+.

RR Auction specialise in rare manuscripts, autographs, and historic artefacts including space exploration related items.

Their ’Space’ auction ending 24 October included a selection of items from the personal collection of Dr Edgar D. Mitchell, (1930 – 2016), Captain USN (ret) and Lunar Module Pilot for the NASA Apollo 14 Moon landing mission.

The undoubted star lot from the collection was the Apollo 14 flown Rolex GMT-Master ‘Pepsi’ owned by astronaut Edgar Mitchell. RR Auction noted that the incredibly rare watch is one of only two Apollo-flown Rolex watches ever sold at auction. The Reference. 1675, Rolex GMT-Master with its iconic blue-and-red bezel was worn by Edgar Mitchell during his Apollo 14 mission in 1971, where he became the sixth man to walk on the moon. As RR Auction catalogued the Rolex watch has been documented in both pre-flight footage of Mitchell suiting up and in onboard video from inside the Command Module. The Rolex is also accompanied by a certificate of authenticity signed by Mitchell, certifying that "the accompanying Rolex watch was worn by me during the Apollo 14 mission."

The case back of Mitchell’s Rolex GMT-Master, Reference. 1675 is inscribed:

Giving further insight into the use of the Rolex GMT-Master in space flights RR Auction noted that ‘while Omega’s Speedmaster Pro was NASA’s officially issued watch for Apollo missions, astronauts like Mitchell occasionally favoured their personal Rolexes’. Additionally, astronauts Stuart Roosa and Ron Evans also carried Rolex GMT-Masters during their Apollo 14 and Apollo 17 missions respectively. These privately owned and space-flown watches are incredibly rare. As RR Auction pointed out the NASA issued Omega Speedmasters remain the property of NASA. Accordingly, the last Rolex GMT-Master to go under the hammer was Ron Evans’ Apollo 17 ‘Pepsi’ in 2009. 

With so much emphasis rightly placed on the Omega Speedmaster and its role in space travel and exploration on the wrists of NASA astronauts we also need to remember that Bulova contributed timing instruments to the NASA space program.

In October 2015, RR Auction sold the only privately owned watch worn on the Moon. This was Apollo 15 Commander David Scott, 1971, lunar surface-worn Bulova Chronograph wristwatch. The watch was auctioned at their Space and Aviation sale for US $1,592,500, (approximately £1,225,994) including buyer’s premium.

This October, from the personal collection of Dr Edgar D. Mitchell, (1930 – 2016), Captain USN (ret) and Lunar Module Pilot for the NASA Apollo 14 Moon landing mission they offered another Bulova space associated wristwatch. While this watch did not travel on any space mission it was still a unique and interesting piece.

The Bulova Accutron Astronaut Mark I wristwatch has a custom ‘Houston’ Dial. Houston is the home of NASA’s mission control base. The watch was presented to Mitchell in 1971 by the then Bulova chairman General Omar Bradley. The text for ‘Houston’ appears in orange on the world timer dial.

The watch fetched US $10,981, (approximately £8,464, including buyer’s premium against an estimate of US $1000+. 

All the recent news about Patek Philippe’s launch of the Cubitus collection provides an excellent opportunity to look at some now vintage Patek Philippe watch designs based on square and rectangle forms. It is also a reminder that the storied Maison has a long history of watch case design beyond just the classic round case shape, including square, rectangular, tonneau, cushion and asymmetrical.

Most notably the Patek Philippe Golden Ellipse design comes to mind, introduced by Patek Philippe in 1968. The case design is somewhere between an oval and a rectangle with soft rounded edges.

The concept behind the now classic design was inspired by the Ancient Greek mathematical formula of the ‘golden section’ which has informed design proportions for centuries.

So as a quick round up, and please do excuse the pun, here are a few illustrated examples of some very stylish vintage rectangular watch case shapes by Patek Philippe. 

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